Air-assist fuel injectors have been proposed to improve the operating efficiency and emissions of internal combustion engines. These devices mix air with a fuel charge that is then injected directly into the engine combustion cylinder. The air-assist improves the atomization and distribution of the fuel charge as it enters the air within the combustion chamber of the cylinder. Air is separately ingested in a normal manner into the engine combustion chamber and may be compressed prior to the air assisted fuel injection.
Many air-assisted fuel injectors are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,991 issued Oct. 11, 1994 assigned to General Motors Corp. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,369 issued Mar. 24, 1998 assigned to General Motors Corp. are examples of air-assist fuel injectors that might employ the present invention.